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“What could go wrong?”
That was the question that kept going through Clara’s head the entire time.
A question that she should’ve been more mindful of this whole trip.
And to think that it all happened as a result of wanting to go on a leisurely hike outside of town.
It was originally TJ’s idea, to do something out of the house. And Clara had to convince Yasha to come with them.
So after a hasty use of the daily Sending stone to her wife that they’d be out and about, and after an impromptu request for use of the archive’s teleportation circles, Beau had given her blessing and so the three of them went hiking along the trails overlooking the vast Egelin Quarry north of Zadash.
They’d be fine. What could go wrong?
Clara knew the area quite well, being the learned woman she was. The quarry was several centuries old by now, the stone mined from within used to construct Zadash back in the days of the Julous Dominion, only to be largely abandoned by the discovery of the Herathis Mine in the southeast, which bore a more luxurious payoff in platinum.
The quarry was still in use by this day, though to a much more reduced degree. As long as the three of them kept their distance, what could go wrong?
So they did just that. And they had gotten about half the overall distance between Zadash and Rexxentrum if one were to be on foot or by horseback. And the sun was already beginning to set.
And so they chose to set up camp. Yasha was with Clara and TJ, and she still had her weapon on her. What could go wrong?
Turned out that everything did go wrong.
And it all started with a sudden rumble in the earth.
It was just after sundown, with mother and daughter exchanging stories of how their day went in the city and Yasha talking about looking forward to showcasing her newest wares at the farmer’s market in Zadash. And as the campfire grew dimmer, it was about time to go to sleep.
And that’s when the rumble happened. It was enough to startle all three of them. Sure enough, Yasha was on alert, sword drawn and keeping a lookout. TJ was clinging to his mother.
For a moment, it seemed as if nothing truly was wrong.
That is, until the rumbling returned. And intensified.
And that is when it dawned on all of them that their campsite was close to the edge of the quarry.
Before any of them had a chance to breathe, the ground beneath them trembled with no end in sight.
And then the ground broke beneath their feet. And Clara and TJ were falling.
It was suddenly a very good thing that Yasha was among them. She had her wings, she could grab them and get them to safety.
She managed to dive down and grab them just before they were splattered against the base of the quarry.
She also managed to get slammed hard by a jagged stalactite protruding from the rocky terrain.
Sure enough, all three of them tumbled to the ground, and none of them were in good shape. Clara could feel that her arm was broken, Yasha was a lot worse for wear.
TJ was hurting bad and was unconscious. Yasha wasted no time in using her healing hands to stabilize him.
The quaking had thankfully stopped, but now it was beginning to storm hard. What bad timing.
Frantic to find shelter, Yasha did notice a cave nearby. Clara was in no shape to hold her boy, so the barbarian took him and they ran into the cave.
Bad idea overall, they realized too late, as most of their camping gear was still left above and Yasha had already used up her wings and her healing… and just as they clambered inside the cave, she collapsed. TJ managed to wake up and was understandably frightened.
And just as icing on the cake, a stray bolt had impacted a tree from above and the flaming wood fell into the quarry… right into the mouth of the cave they fled into.
“What could go wrong?”
Everything. And there’s no telling whether or not it will get better as Clara is dealing with a sleeping son on one side and a badly hurt Yasha on the other.
Frantic to do whatever she can, Clara realizes that she still has her own pack. And bless the gods, she actually has some first-aid supplies. Some, but not a lot.
Resolved to do what she can right now, Clara takes a leather strap from the pack and bites down hard on it.
She’s thankful for the training in first-aid that Beau’s mentor taught her as she grabs two leftover pitons for their tent and rips a large portion of her dress. Remembering what she was taught, she counts to five before taking her limp, broken arm and…
CRACK!
…screams into the leather as she then works to use what meager supplies she has to form a splint. It wouldn’t be much, but it would have to do.
The rest of her supplies, she immediately went to use on Yasha. The poor woman had wounds far worse than her own, and all Clara can do is just some patchwork and stopgap treatments to prevent her from bleeding out.
How pathetic would it have been for a member of the Mighty Nein, a champion of the Stormlord, to bleed out due to an ill-fated camping trip?
Sadly, it’s all that Clara is capable of doing. Her son is relatively okay thanks to Yasha’s earlier treatment, and as far as she can tell, the angelkin is at least breathing.
She should be fortunate that she had the means to keep her daughter-in-law alive.
She can only pray that they can all survive the night as she holds Yasha’s depleted Sending stone.
First chance she gets, she’s sending a message to her daughter.
Hopefully, rescue will come swiftly.
They just have to hold on.
She’s not sure how long she’s slept, if at all. She’s not even sure when she fell asleep, not wanting to take her eyes off of TJ or Yasha.
But Clara still opens her eyes.
Yasha is still sleeping, but her patchwork treatment is already becoming undone. If help doesn’t get here quick, she’s going to bleed out. And she has no remaining supplies, let alone any to wake her up.
That’s right! The Sending stone!
Clara looks at her hand, the one she knows that was holding the stone just the other night.
It’s gone. But how?
She hears whimpering from the mouth of the cave.
Her son is there, having already woken up. In his hand, he’s clutching the stone as if in a prayer.
Clara has to wonder if he already did what she was attempting to do.
Straining to get up, Clara uses her good arm to lean against the cave wall as she limps to her boy.
”TJ? Are you okay?”
He doesn’t look away. If anything, his whimpering is not due to crying in despair.
He’s smiling while in tears.
”Look, Mom. She came.”
Clara peeks through the charred remains of the large tree that blocks their way out. And sure enough, leaping her way down to the base of the quarry like the agile lioness that she is, is Beauregard. And right behind her is Caleb hovering down on his large, magical cat paw.
”Yes, dear. They did.” She then hollers out to her daughter. “Beauregard! Over here! Hurry!”
She then looks to the still-unconscious Yasha, who is thankfully still breathing. They made it. They all made it.
Things did go wrong. But they would soon be all right.